[singhqu]

Hi I've just moved to HK and need some advice on a home theatre system, I will be buying a LCD TV with HDMI. I'm looking for a small unit with cube speakers so it's out of my sons way. My budget is around HK$ 6/7. I have looked at the Philips Sound bar (HTS8100) but I'm not impressed by the sound quality. Can you guys please help with other options, also where can I go to view these systems?

[KnowItAll]

7K for both the receiver and speakers? (How many speakers? 4 corners + center + woofer?)

[singhqu]

if possible yes

[Lammarite]

You sometimes see some really good deals on KEF systems in Times Square.

[Skyhook]

We've just finished assembling our home cinema, running a 42 inch plasma for general viewing use, and a dedicated 90 inch scissor lift screen, using a Sanyo PLV-Z5 HD projector for DVD movies.

We picked up a Panasonic SCHT-880 all in one wife friendly dvd -5.1 DTS Dolby Digital audio-speaker-system, for a very good price about a year ago, and have been really impressed by its audio performance so far. It really crushed a lot of other more expensive branded gear of the same type of configuration, for the money paid it was a bargain., Progressive scanned component video output is standard, I am sure most of the current gear even has HDMI for even better quality video reproduction, which looks great on screens that have the ability to sync with these features.

A review below...
http://www.t3.co.uk/reviews/entertai..._cinema_system

I am sure panasonic, Pioneer, Onkyo and JVC all have pretty similar performing gear in this category, at the time when we purchased, the Panasonic hammered its opposition convincingly, without being extortively expensive..

For the budget you plan on spending, you should get a nice piece of good sounding kit.Make sure that the subwoofer thats supplied with the packaged unit is a front firing driver design though, it really makes a difference between having tight punchy dynamic bass as opposed to floor firing or ported box style subs, which sound very fluffy.

Good luck anyway, you'll love it once you get it all up and running .

Some photo's of our home cinema

[audiodesign]

If you need home theater advice or help installing and or choosing the right components, I could help. I'm an audio engineer. Would you be acoustically treating the room or leaving it dead? Around $7,000 is doable, but you aren't going to get a very good brand name receiver or speakers, more likely low powered cube speakers that sound aweful for full range music and movies. Are you also considering a blu-ray dvd player connected via hdmi or just dvd? That is a significant consideration, as blu-ray audio is much better but not worth it if the speakers are only average quality.

[Skyhook]

Umm AD, most peoples rooms are not long enough for anything super great, as bass cancellation will be the end result, most lounges in HK are width ways oriented and not the THX certified/prefered length ways... I can just imagine some hk essoteric hi fi boffin trying to cram a pair of Wilson Audio watt mains speakers, a pair of Wilson Audio watt Pups as rears and side effects, with a top end Kef Reference series centre channel, a Sunfire Subwoofer and Sunfire power pre DTS ES -Dolby EX combo, in a less than 144ft2 sound space, which is the average lounge size in HK.

Gear like that needs ideally a 600ft2 rectangular room set up length ways, or it aint going to work based on simple math alone...

In HK, most peoples entire apartment is that big...

I know you mean well, but for most peoples requirments here, your advice just isnt practical.

[audiodesign]

Who asked you bro? It doesnt matter what size the room is, you don't have to blast it. Its called a remote, the volume goes up and the volume goes down? You follow that simple math right or should i speak in baby talk? Its called a high quality signal chain which keeps the signal to noise ratio low and a high dynamic range so you hear everything the way it should be on a blu ray disk. Don't speak on things that you know nothing about man.

[Skyhook]

I do agree with Lammarite, KEF have one of the best sounding systems of the category, but you need to spend between 10 and 14K, its certainly worth it....I had a pair of Kef Reference 4 main speakers and the matching reference centre channel when I lived in Aus, absolutely awesome speakers, but way too large for HK homes, and still have a marriage intact.

[audiodesign]

He didn't even mention what size his room was, so what are you talking about? It could be a big room. But keep criticizing other people if it makes you feel better about yourself.